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sunny
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| Posted: July 05 2008 at 9:59pm | IP Logged
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My dd will soon turn 3. I am befuddled with what to get her for birthday gifts. Even though she can occupy herself and concentrate for long periods and has quite an imagination, she doesn’t show a special interest for anything in particular  . Sometimes she really baffles me. She mostly plays with anything her older brother plays with. If that be something of hers, she will play with it; otherwise her toys just sit there. He on the other hand is so easy. He is interested in everything! I try to be very selective when purchasing toys. I don’t want to buy a bunch of junk. But I do wish I could get her something special; something just for her; something that would engage her. I wish I had a "must have" list (I like lists  )for young girls' gifts! Does anyone have toys or dolls that they recommend for a three yr old?
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LucyP
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Okay, possibly this is controversial, but if she is happy with playing with whatever big brother has, I would get her nothing for her birthday! Well, not nothing - a book or two, maybe something keepsakey like a nice statue or picture, some bubbles or playdough or paint to use up and just let her play with what she has. I have wasted so much money in my 3 years of motherhood (our son is 4.5, our daughter is 1) on thinking "DS will like this" or "DD should have a dolly" and they ignore it and find what they like.
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amyable
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I agree with Lucy! Yet I probably will never be able to bring myself to get my kids nothing for their birthdays. 
These may not be "special" but my just-turned-3yo's favorite things are her Polly Pockets, a large magnadoodle, and our playsilks (I dyed silk scarves from dharma trading company) and dress-ups (especially one cast-off ballet recital outfit.
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folklaur
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| Posted: July 07 2008 at 2:32pm | IP Logged
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I second (third) what was said. Like Amy, I dyed playsilks for my daughter for Christmas last year, and she plays with them all the time, they can be landscapes, and dancing scarves, and dress-up clothes, etc. They were SO easy to make.
But things like paints and playdoh, etc, are always a hit with my dd.
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teachingmyown
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| Posted: July 07 2008 at 3:05pm | IP Logged
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Does she have a little doll house? I bought this for my dd12 last Christmas, but dd2 loves it as well.
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Tina
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| Posted: July 07 2008 at 3:53pm | IP Logged
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I have to agree with Amy and Laura about the playsilks. My dd6 and dd9 received these for Christmas last year and they have gotten more use than any other dressup item! And now even ds2 uses our blue one as a cape and cloak!
At 3, my dds all loved their "kitchens" and play food. And my 3 yr. old niece loves hers, too.
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Stephanie_Q
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I was thinking about this as we picked up piles of un-played-with and abused toys and carted them up to the attic this afternoon. I came to the same conclusion as Lucy, which I see has already been seconded and "third-ed" - I'll fourth it. I think it's more important to DO something fun rather than BUY something. My kids get more excited about helping make their birthday cake (so they can lick the bowl) than anything else...but as for presents, my adolescent brother-in-law's favorite birthday present was a trip to an amusement park. My 3yo son loved his fishing pole because it means he gets to go fishing with daddy. My 4yo (last August) is still thrilled with her hummingbird feeder; my 6 year old doesn't remember what presents she got 2 weeks ago, but she talks about the "birthday park" where we had cupcakes with some friends.
Sounds like she likes playing with her brother - so for a gift suggestion, why don't you get something she can play with her brother / something her brother will play with her that they'll both enjoy?
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: July 07 2008 at 6:57pm | IP Logged
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There are some good ideas in these past threads:
Top 5 Toys
Favorite Christmas Toys
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JodieLyn
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dress up is a big one here.. from the 18 mo old to the 11 yr old.. including the boys.. dress up gets used (think cowboy hats and capes and animal costumes and such for the boys.. and girls )
We like second hand clothing for dress up.. the small adult sizes are great.. and the fancier, sparklier, brighter, the better  for both boys and girls.. we've gotten hats and clip on ties and vests and jackets for the boys and skirts and dresses for the girls.. play jewelry (also good for "treasure")
Not to mention simple animal costumes (check after halloween sales maybe) we have a black sweatshirt that has ears and tail attached for a black cat and a lion jacket that my mom got somewhere.. the hood is the head of the lion and there's a tail on the fake fur jacket as well I think.
And some bandanas make pirate costumes.. and anyone can be a superhero with a cape..
Some toy armor is great..
Most of these types of things allow me to just go to the dress up box and put together any number of Saints costumes as well.. with a bit of duct tape and cardboard
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SusanJ
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Both my kids (3.5yo ds and 21mo dd) love Tinker Toys and Duplos. Really, those two thing would be enough for them. But I've heard such raves about playsilks that I'm thinking those for my dd when she turns two this fall.
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Tina P.
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| Posted: July 08 2008 at 9:10am | IP Logged
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amyable wrote:
| our playsilks (I dyed silk scarves from dharma trading company) |
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Hi Amy:
I don't mean to hijack this thread, but could you elaborate on which scarves you used and how you dyed them. I'm awfully craft-impaired and need specifics. 
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Tina P.
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| Posted: July 08 2008 at 9:16am | IP Logged
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Oh...and one more thing. Are they machine washable and do the colors bleed? I guess that's two mmore things.
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amyable
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| Posted: July 08 2008 at 9:55am | IP Logged
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I think I used this:
Dharma Habotai silk scarves
in the 30 by 30 size. They are silk so they absorb Koolaid or food coloring dyes:
Koolaid dying how-to
I didn't have Koolaid so I used liquid food coloring/vinegar.
They are *supposed* to be colorfast when done. I don't think I have washed mine yet so I can't tell you for sure if it worked!
ETA: I've also gone to Joann's clearance section and gotten a yard of cheap, gauzy/silky fabrics. They are not hemmed like the scarves from Dharma, but they have worked quite well for the $1 they cost us. :) They were (and still are) our "playsilks" for years before I caved and bought real silk to dye.
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SallyT
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I love the playsilk idea! Both my girls have LOVED dressup clothes, and most of ours have come from the thrift store: hats, scarves, dresses that could "be" just about any character, if you know what I mean.
The nice thing about things like that is that they quickly become family toys, and not just one child's property, and they get used a LOT.
For birthdays, I tend to give books, art supplies, and maybe a special small keepsake that I wouldn't just give for no reason. Beyond that, a birthday is a good time to invest in a family/community toy, like dressups, toy kitchen, more legos/duplos which will end up in the community box, blocks, etc.
We have had birthday gifts which never got played with; we have also had toys, chiefly dolls, which sat for a while un-played with, but then suddenly got "discovered" and became favorites. Sometimes they have to grow into things.
Still, when they're that age, simple is definitely good.
Sally
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folklaur
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| Posted: July 08 2008 at 12:03pm | IP Logged
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Tina - I blogged about dying them here and the idea came from Mary M's blog, which is linked in the post.
hth,
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Tina P.
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| Posted: July 08 2008 at 12:53pm | IP Logged
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Yay! Thank you, Laura. My oldest daughter and I are scheming to make these for the littles (and my oldest won't mind playing with them, either ) for Christmas. The tough part will be keeping everything we do hidden.
We might follow Mary M's rabbit trail as well. Sounds awfully interesting!
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CAgirl4God
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when my younger (dd) turned three, I found her playing with little people, blocks, trying to play with barbies (lol), cars (like hot wheels) and animals.
she did have a magnadoodle, but it didn't last long... she put too much presure on it. (maybe next bday...)
she got into books also. cardboard books, that weren't too big for her. she would sit forever looking at the pictures.
she also loves (then and now) puzzles. she mastered her wooden puzzles very fast. then we bought her24 piece puzzles. she could do most of them on her own.
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mary
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another vote for the playsilks. we just dyed them with koolaid as well for my dd's 5 yr birthday party. all of the kids (and some of the adults) loved doing it. the other suggestion i have is a kitchen. ours gets played on every day.
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sunny
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I cant tell you how much I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all of your responses. I love all the different directions the discussion has taken!!! First of all, I have researched and added so much to my Amazon wish list!! Much of it was added to save for when they are a bit older. We also love Lego and I think I will purchase the box of pink Lego for her. (I always bemoan that so much of Lego is geared toward boys yet we, girls love them too!) One purchase I regret is the loving family dollhouse I bought her last Christmas. It just sits here unless she is filling it with stuffed animals. I do wish that instead I had purchased a Playmobile house because I like the idea of toys that we can add to and make a “community toy box”. I enjoyed learning about the popularity of the play silks and the dress up. I have a bag of hand me down scarves from my mother that we play dress up and/or dance with. Overall, I think I learned from this discussion a very big lesson!!!! That is that I am not so out of touch with my dd as I sometimes feel. It has been so easy to connect with ds. Dd is sometimes so strong willed and imaginative that I feel I don’t know what she wants, needs or is trying to communicate. But I see that her imaginative make-believe world and her persistence are sometimes enough “entertainment”. Also I realize that I don’t have to buy just the right gift to please her. Sometimes I feel I want her to have things that are "hers” But more important is that she is happy, challenged, content... I am not sure if this makes sense to you as it is hard for me to put it into words but thank you all!!
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JodieLyn
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One of my daughters is very hard to buy for.. she's very active and tends to play with the boys more (they're more active) and yet she thinks she wants to have and play girlie things.. but while she can be thrilled with a girlie toy.. it often won't get used. It's a challenge for sure.
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Topic: "must have" toy list
